Media Dragon: Get around safely with these new Google Maps features

Senior ministers may be hauled into court over robo-debt class action

Divorced general thinks bases should be named after officers who understand loyalty Duffelblog

Corporations Are Claiming “Black Lives Matter.” That Would Be News to Their Workers. Jacobin
The Illusion of a Rapid US RecoveryProject Syndicate. James K. Galbraith. Note this appeared before the market crash and advances arguments Galbraith has been consistently making.
Facebook says it doesn’t need news stories for its business and won’t pay to share them in Australia Guardian

MTA’s ‘very expensive’ homeless outreach effort a bust, inspector general finds NY Post

UK marks anniversary of Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 Al jazeera

The City’s Claudia Irizarry Aponte, Ann Choi and Hiram Alejandro Duran with “COVID Tore Through NYC Homeless Shelters. But Residents Were Kept in the Dark.”
Poynter’s Harrison Mantas and Cristina Tardáguila with “Fact-Checkers Stand By Maria Ressa, Santos Jr. and Rappler in the Wake of Filipino Court’s Verdict.”
CNN has hired NFL player Malcolm Jenkins as a contributor. Variety’s Brian Steinberg has the details.

Get around safely with these new Google Maps features - Google Blog: “Getting from A to B can be more complicated these days. Because of COVID-19, it’s increasingly important to know how crowded a train station might be at a particular time or whether the bus is running on a limited schedule. Having this information before and during your trip is critical for both essential workers who need to safely navigate to work and will become more important for everyone as countries around the world begin to reopen. In our latest release of Google Maps on Android and iOS, we’re introducing features to help you easily find important information if you need to venture out, whether it’s by car or public transportation. Get alerts about important information – When you look up public transit directions for a trip that is likely to be affected by COVID-19 restrictions, we’ll show relevant alerts from local transit agencies. These alerts can help you prepare accordingly if government mandates impact transit services or require you to wear a mask on public transportation. Transit alerts are rolling out in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, France, India, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom and the U.S. where we have information from local transit agencies, with more coming soon. We’re also introducing driving alerts to notify you about COVID-19 checkpoints and restrictions along your route, like when crossing national borders (starting first in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.). You’ll see an alert on the directions screen and after starting navigation if your route is impacted by these restrictions. When navigating to medical facilities or COVID-19 testing centers, we’ll display an alert reminding you to verify eligibility and facility guidelines to avoid being turned away or causing additional strain on the local healthcare system. Starting this week, alerts for medical facilities will be available in Indonesia, Israel, the Philippines, South Korea, and the U.S., and testing center alerts will be available in the U.S…”

Why do people write fiction? by Frank J. Fleming – According To Hoyt.

… indoctrinating people with your fiction isn’t easy. You have to be subtle. That’s why I have a few great tips to help you manipulate your reader without his or her knowledge.

Ars Technica – Section 230 is the legal foundation of social media, and it’s under attack.”…To understand Section 230, you have to understand how the law worked before Congress enacted it in 1996. At the time, the market for consumer online services was dominated by three companies: Prodigy, CompuServe, and AOL. Along with access to the Internet, the companies also offered proprietary services such as real time chats and online message boards. Prodigy distinguished itself from rivals by advertising a moderated, family-friendly experience. Employees would monitor its message boards and delete posts that didn’t meet the company’s standards. And this difference proved to have an immense—and rather perverse—legal consequence…”

JACK WATERFORD. Punishing the ‘undeserving’ – the robo-debt fiasco

By JACK WATERFORD | On 10 June 2020

Heaven knows how the ultimate costs of the robo-debt fiasco will pan out. So far the Commonwealth has announced that it is paying back about three-quarters of a billion to nearly 400,000 people whose rights were trampled upon.Continue reading →

No public interest, it seems, in watching public money burn

By JACK WATERFORD | On 9 June 2020

The political cynic could easily imagine a string of reasons for ignoring calls for a royal commission or other inquiry into the robo-debt debacle.Continue reading →